Shopping, shopping ...

SO, I've been hitting the car shopping pretty hard lately. To say it's been stressful is pretty much an understatement. I've looked at well over 100 cars now, and I'm pretty much at the end of myself and any opinion I could possibly have about cars.

For a long time I thought I wanted a used Honda Ballade, which is like the old Honda Accord. In the States, they're great cars. Here in S.A. spending less than R60,000 on a car is risky because of all the damage that has potentially been done to it. So, I waited.

Then I looked at the Toyota Corolla. I'd owned one before, didn't really like it all that much, but it was reliable and easy on maintenance. Here in S.A. Toyotas (esp the smaller and older ones) are at the top of the hitlist for carjacking and theft. Yay.

So, I started to branch out ... VW Polos (also on the hitlist, but the hatchback/3 door model is more likely stolen), Mazda 3s, Nissans, Kias. To say that I was overwhelmed by the end of it is another understatement.

Something had to be done, though. I'd been buying a car since December 2007. I will soon lose the privilege of driving the ministry car because I'm moving to the new house. We'll have even more volunteers here, which means more people sharing one car. So, the time has come.

I went out today to a dealership that was recommended to me and I think I may have found my car. I'm not going to stress over the fact that it's newer than any car I've driven, that it's nice, with only 55,000k on the clock. I'm going to trust that my donors in the States will understand that considering reliability, safety, theft/carjacking, insurance and the needed size for running kids and all their stuff around, I got the best buy for the money I had available.

So, it looks like I might be buying a VW Polo Classic if there's nothing wrong with it. Test drive is Monday. It's a trade-in. And I'm walking out of there under budget, which means there's money for insurance and maintenance.

Have I mentioned that not getting ahead of God and procrastinating just a little has really worked in my favor? The exchange rate right now enables me to spend the same money and get R20,000 more vehicle for it. Gotta love how God works!

So, please pray that all goes well and that the hunt will be over!